Ruth Breen is a letter carrier and a member of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) in Fredericton, New Brunswick. I interviewed Ruth at the Fredericton CUPW local office the night before the union launched a cross-country rotating strike to fight for better wages and better working conditions. Just prior to the interview, Ruth had been busy preparing picket signs and other strike materials.
In this interview, she talks about some of the challenges of a postal worker strike in an age of rapidly changing communications, some of the tactics the union will be using, and the emotions of other letter carriers in New Brunswick.
For more information on how to support your local postal workers, visit:
http://supportpostalworkers.wordpress.com/
This interview was recorded in Fredricton on June 2nd, and produced by Aaron Lakoff of the CKUT community news collective. Please get in touch with aaronlakoff (at) gmail.com if you intend to rebroadcast or use this. Creative commons, y'all.